Choices
by Archraven
Summary: The Akatsuki didn’t plan on Naruto’s silver haired sensei to interfere with their plan on capturing the jinchuriki. Kakashi might have been able to save Naruto but will he be able to save himself?
1. Chapter 1

SUMMARY: 

The Akatsuki organisation has painstakingly plotted a way to get the Jinchuriki they need – Naruto. It's a clever and sly plan, designed to work. But they didn't plan on Naruto's silver haired sensei to interfere. Kakashi might have been able to save Naruto but would he be able to save himself from the Akatsuki.

**This is my first Naruto fanfiction and I hope that you will like it. It also has a small flashback of Kakashi's life in every chapter as well. This story takes place shortly after Tsunade heals Kakashi and Sasuke. It's when Team 7 is still a team.**

**Enjoy!**

Kakashi was teaching Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura the art of meditation when the news arrived. Sakura had grasped the process well enough but Naruto and Sasuke were still struggling. Kakashi sighed as he watched Naruto and Sasuke try to best each other again. He had been trying so hard to get his team to work together and though sometimes, they did work together reasonably well, they were still more like three individuals than like a team. Sometimes, Kakashi could even see the resemblance to which his current team had with his previous team.

Naruto was so much like Obito, always wanting to surpass his rival, bursting out into short random speeches at random times and even occasionally tripping over his feet just like the Uchiha used to.

Naruto was also so much like his father, Kakashi's deceased sensei. Naruto had the same sprit as his father and not to mention, both of them had the same love and passion for ramen. 

It was almost unnerving to see Sakura act so much like Rin. Though Sakura was definitely much more headstrong and rebellious than Rin, both of them shared the same concern for their teammates. Sakura's obsessive crush on Sasuke was so similar to Rin's love for Kakashi. She, like Rin, was also the most level headed one of the team- the peacemaker.

As for Sasuke, it sometimes scared Kakashi to see how much Sasuke was like his old ten year old self. Sasuke had the same intent to learn more and become a powerful shinobi, not to mention being the heart throb of many girls as well.

Kakashi had never though that he would ever be in his sensei's position but then again, a lot of things changed through time and Kakashi had never thought that he would ever have to loose his beloved teacher.

"Kakashi senpai!" a Chunin came to a stop at where Team 7 was training. The Chunin was out of breath and gasping for air. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura looked at the Chunin curiously.

"Yes?" Kakashi asked lightly, jumping out of the tree branch at which he had been resting on.

"The Hokage sama wants to see you right now! She says if you come late, she'll come looking for you and you'll wish that you were dead," the Chunin said, looking apprehensively at Kakahi as he delivered the last part of the message.

Kakashi merely raised his eyebrow while Naruto sniggered at the Chunin's apparent discomfort.

"Who else does the Hokage sama want to see?" Kakashi asked.

"She wants to see all the jounins and ANBU members as well," the Chunin said. "At the Main Pavilion!"

Kakashi's lazy eye widened slightly. The Main Pavilion was only ever used for very urgent emergencies. In fact, the last time the Main Pavilion was used was during the Kyuubi attack. Kakashi's heart clenched in remembrance. 

"Hai, I'll go now," Kakashi told the Chunin. He then turned towards his students. "Continue meditation for half an hour and then you can have your lunch."

Kakashi smiled at them before disappearing off. The Chunin remained, staring curiously at Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. Everyone in the village had heard about the Copy Ninja's students which involved the Jinchuriki, the last surviving Uchicha (except for Itachi), and the talented pink haired medic nin who had a fierce temper.

"Don't you find him a bit strange sometimes?" the Chunin asked them. "You know, a bit scary?"

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other, thinking about all the times their sensei had been mysteriously late, the way that though their sensei always acted lazy and relaxed, Kakashi was always on alert, the way their sensei would sometimes stare at them sadly as they argued (Naruto vs Sasuke, and Sakura trying to stop them), the way the one eyed jounin could change into a merciless killing machine and then back into their carefree, smiling sensei again.

"No," the three of them said loyally.

By the time Kakashi had reached the Main Paviolion, the place was packed with jounins and ANBU members. Everyone was tense with curiosity and anticipation. There was no sign of Tsunade sama, Kakashi relaxed slightly but immediately tensed up again as he heard someone's rather loud voice.

"HAH! My eternal rival has arrived. I was her before you, Kakashi, so that's another point to me!" 

Gai was strolling proudly towards him with his chest stuck out. Behind him, Asuma and Kurenai ware walking with Gai, shaking their heads in despair. Kakashi smiled at in greeting as the older jounins joined him.

Very few people knew that Kakashi was in actual fact, four years younger than the jounins. Kakashi still remembered the first time he had met them.

--------------------------FLASHABCK------------------------------------------

"_Where could sensei be?" Kakashi thought to himself. "Flirting with Kushina again probably,"_

_Kakashi sighed and leaned against the large oak tree behind him. He was in a shaded position and as people wandered past him, none of them noticed a young masked, silver haired boy. Kakashi relaxed slightly but immediately tensed up again as he heard someone's rather loud voice._

"_My amazing power of youth has detected a little boy trying to be invisible by the tree! HAH!" a ten year old boy wearing green spandex and with a shiny black hairdo came striding up to Kakahi. Behind him was a beautiful girl and a boy chewing on a piece of stick. Both of them looked about the same age as the spandex wearing boy. _

"_Leave the kid alone Gai," the stick chewing boy said, with an apologetic smile at Kakashi. Kakashi made no attempt to smile back at him, not appreciating being called a kid._

"_I am Kurenai," the pretty girl introduced herself, "this is Asuma and this is Gai,"_

"_Hi" Kakashi said shortly, still leaning on the tree._

"_What are you doing here?"_

"_Waiting for my sensei,"_

"_What! You're too young to have a sensei, kid," Asuma pointed out. Kurenai and Gai nodded their agreement._

"_That's what youthink," Kakashi retorted, "I graduated from the Academy bout a year ago. I'm going to take the Chunin exams soon."_

_Three disbelieving snorts greeted Kakashi's statement. The masked boy scowled up at them._

"_The Konoha's White Fang is my father," Kakashi said proudly. "I am going to grow up to be just like my father and my sensei!"_

_Kakashi looked up superiorly and was not expecting the kind smiles that he received._

"_Aw, he's so sweet!" Kurenai said to Kakashi's mortification. She ruffled Kakashi's hair, causing him to blush indignantly._

_In just a second, Asuma, Gai and Kurenai found themselves hanging upside down from the oak tree. Kakashi smirked up at their shocked and surprised faces._

"_Told you," Kakashi said simply, leaning back against the tree again. Gai's eyes were wide with surprise._

"_No one had ever tied me upside down to a tree before!" Gai yelled._

"_Really?" Kakashi was bored._

"_From now on, you shall be my Eternal Rival!" Gai declared impressively (or as impressive as one could get from hanging upside down from a tree). Gai's wild movements caused the unfortunate genins tied up with him to slowly turn around. _

_Kakashi seemed slightly surprised at Gai's speech but replied with a lazy "Whatever"_

_At that moment, there was a sudden gust of wind and suddenly, a blond haired man was standing next to Kakashi. Asuma, Kurenai and Gai's eyes widened as they recognised the "Konoha's Yellow Flash"_

_The man ruffled Kakashi's hair fondly and started as he noticed the three hanging genins._

"_Making friends?" he asked Kakashi._

"_Already made an "Eternal Rival" apparently," Kakashi said lazily ducking out of his sensei's hand. His sensei smiled at Asuma, Kurenai and Gai before releasing them from Kakashi's rope. _

"_You're his sensei" Asuma asked incredulously, rubbing his head._

"_You bet! Kakashi's taking the Chunin Exams soon, so come and watch him in the Third Round!" Minato said, putting his arm around Kakashi proudly._

_Asuma and Kurenai exchanged surprised glances before nodding and disappearing off in a puff. Gai's exit was more…dynamic._

"_I will come and watch you my Eternal Rival!" Gai said loudly before heading after his teammates._

_Minato laughed at the surprised look on Kakasi's face before ruffling his student's hair fondly again._

_-------------------------------_

"Wonder what's so urgent?" Asuma asked, scratching his beard thoughtfully. Kakashi shrugged and Gai gave his rival a dazzling smile.

"Hokage sama has called all of us here because she is in need of Konoha's most elite ninjas!" Gai declared.

Asuma frowned at Gai.

"You're not an elite ninja though," he said. Gai looked as if he was about to strangle Asuma when Tsunade sama appeared.

"Please stand to attention!" the feisty Hokage barked out. Behind her was Jiraiya, who was looking both smug and worried at the same time.

All jounins and ANBU lined up separately in military positions. The Hokage looked at her soldiers gravely before starting her statement.

"An army of 150 missing ninjas are heading to attack Konoha," she said.

**I only recently discovered Naruto and this is my first piece of fanfiction for it. Kakashi is without doubt, my favourite character and this story will mainly evolve around him.**

**Please can you review and tell me what you think of it?**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the second chapter! Enjoy!**

"Konoha is about to be attacked by an army of 150 missing nins."

Tsunade's delivery was so casual that it took half a second for the jounins and ANBU members to absorb in the statement.

Kakashi's one eye widened, Gai's teeth actually dulled, Asuma's cigarette fell out of his mouth and Kurenai's red eyes lost their sparkle and filled with shock.

"An..army," a jounin repeated in shock. "Of…150 MISSING NINS!"

Tsunade nodded tersely.

"Jiraiya managed to gain this piece of information. He even saw the army for himself. Their intentions were clear," Tsunade said.

"What are we going to do?" another jounin asked, voicing the thoughts of those around him.

"First, I want to make it absolutely clear that only jounins and ANBU are to fight in the upcoming battle," Tsunade said coldly. Most of the jounins looked confused at Tsunade's statement. It wasn't like her to state the obvious. Kakashi however looked at the hedge nearby. His students' stealth skills were improving. 

A loud "WHAT!" erupted from the hedge. It was followed by a "SHUT UP BAKA!" said by an angry female voice. The jounins and ANBU stared at the hedge in surprise as after some scuffling noises, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke fell out of the hedge- only to land near Kakashi's feet.

Sakura and Naruto grinned sheepishly up at their sensei while Sasuke quickly stood up and dragged his teammates up as well.

"We..er.. Sakura pondered for a while for an excuse but then decided not to bother. "It was all Naruto's fault!"

"That you were hiding in the hedge?" Kakashi asked mildly.

"No! That we were caught!" Sakura said, angrily hitting Naruto on the head.

"Ah! Sakura chan! That hurts!" Naruto wailed. He then seemed to remember what the Hokage had said.

"Granny! What do you mean I can't fight those ninjas?"

The Hokage folded her arms severely while Naruto stared at her defiantly.

"This army we're talking about is very dangerous. It's got some very experienced missing nins," Tsunade said, rubbing her forehead. "Which is why, Genins and Chunins are not supposed to participate in the battle!"

"BUT what are we supposed to do then!" Naruto demanded, crossing his arms angrily. Sasuke hmphed in agreement with Naruto.

"You will - ," Tsunade paused. "I think the rest of you Genins and Chunins will want to come out now."

To Team 7's surprise, Lee, Neji, Tenten, Ino, Hinata and many other Genins and Chunins came flying out of their hiding places, looking rueful and avoiding the gaze of the senseis. Tsunade smiled.

"Right. Now as I was saying, " Tsunade said tiredly, "all the Chunins and Genins will help evacuate the villagers and protect them."

As the Chunins and Genins moaned about their task, Kakashi began to think. There was no reason as to why the missing nins should suddenly attack Konoha. Kakashi frowned. Konoha's jounins and Anbu added up to about 80 and the army they would have to face was almost double that amount.

Kakashi wasn't worried about the army however. With any luck, Konoha would come through relatively unscathed. What Kakashi was worried about was who could have set up the whole operation.

--

"We'll be able to watch the entire fight from up here," Deidara said with a smirk. "It's going to be a beautiful work of art. Everything will be black and there will be occasional sprays of red, and- "

"Will you please be quiet Deidara!" barked Kisame. "We're not here to watch the fight!"

"- and the screaming will be like music!" Deidara continued.

"Deidara!"

"Will both of you stop it?" Hidan barked out angrily. "This plan can't go wrong. Just remember that. Let's review again"

"Again? Oh, for God's sake-" Deidara began to complain at having to endure another overview of the Akatsuki's plan.

"Be quiet Deidara." Itachi said quietly. "It is vital for everthing to go according to plan."

Deidara casted Itachi a look of loathing before sighing again.

"The plan, right. Firstly, the Akatsuki (that's us by the way) managed to bribe 150 missing nins to attack Konoha," Deidara said heavily.

"And why did we do that?" Hidan prompted Deidara.

"To exhaust Konoha's jounins and ANBU. Then we'll be able to grab the Jinchuriki without any trouble, ne?" Deidara said smugly.

Kisame sniggered about the plan and Hidan smiled. Itachi remained quiet. He was certain that Konoha would not go down so easily and that capturing the Jinchuriki wouldn't be as easy as the other Akatsuki members thought it would be.

--

It took all the Chunins and Genins most part of the day to evacuate all the villagers. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were all very much exhausted by the end of the day, as were all the other Chunins and Genins.

While the Evacuation process was going on, all the jounins and Anbu were preparing themselves for the oncoming battle. Many were meditating to preserve their chakra and the others were polishing their weapons.

Kakashi however, was doing neither. As usual, he was standing by the memorial stone. His eye was skimming over the usual names.

"Knew I'd find you here," a familiar voice greeted him. Kakashi immediately turned around to see Jiraiya grinning at him.

"The missing nins are very close, brat," Jiraiya smiled at him. "You had better come and take your place."

Kakashi smiled back at the Toad Sage and simply nodded. Jiraiya noticed the memorial stone and his smile faded as he skimmed his finger over his student's name. "Namikaze, Minato". The names "Uchicha, Rin" and "Ransai, Rin" were slightly above the 4th Hokage's name.

"You miss them, don't you?" Jiraiya said Kakashi, who simply sighed and nodded again.

"You're defending the main entrance with me, Tsunade and a few other jounins and ANBU,"

Kakashi quickly checked his weapons over and was about to tighten his gloves when Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura arrived.

"We've got to go now and keep guard over the villagers," Naruto said to his two senseis. It was obvious that he was upset by the fact that he was going to miss all the action.

"And I've got to go and defend the main gain with the famous Toad Sage here," Kakashi said, gesturing to Jiraiya. He was suddenly aware at how his team was staring at him. Jiraiya leaned against the stone, enjoying Kakashi's confusion.

"What?" Kakashi asked, self consciously scratching the back of his neck. All of a sudden, Naruto and Sakura flung themselves onto their sensei and hugged him tightly. Kakashi was too confused to react while Sasuke looked at his sensei anxiously.

"Um…Naruto? Sakura? Why are you-"

"I don't want you to die, Kakashi sensei!" Naruto said, his voice muffled by Kakashi's ANBU vest.

"Be careful out there, sensei!" Sakura said, obviously trying to hold back tears.

Kakashi's eye widened as he understood why the three genins were looking so down. The thought that he might die in the battle had not even crossed Kakashi's mind but the thought had obviously been bothering Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura.

Kakashi unwrapped Naruto and Sakura from him and knelt down so that he could look at them clearly.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine, really. Just make sure that you protect the villagers well, alright?"

"We will Kakashi sensei! Believe it!" Naruto said in his "I'm going to be Hokage one day" voice.

"I believe it," Kakashi said, ruffling Naruto's hair fondly. "Don't come out until you get the all clear sign. You better get going now."

Naruto and Sakura nodded before disappearing off in a puff. Sasuke stayed where he was and looked his sensei in the eye.

"Don't die on us, sensei." Sasuke said before following his teammates. Jiraiya smiled from where he stood.

"They really care about you."

"Yes, they do. And I care about them." Kakashi replied.

Jiraiya laughed and ruffled Kakashi's hair, much to Kakashi's indignation.

"I'm not a kid anymore, Jiraiya _sama_," Kakashi said grumpily as he ducked out of Jiraiya's hand.

"I know, but sometimes you still act like one," And before Kakashi could find a suitable retort to the statement, Jiraiya had teleported away. Muttering under his breath, Kakashi followed his sensei's sensei.

--

Gai and Kurenai could see the rising lcoud of dust which was moving towards the main gate. Asuma saw it too and felt heartily relieved when Jiraiya and Kakashi suddenly appeared next to him.

"See that cloud of dust? That's the missing nins. At this rate, they will be here in five minutes," Asuma said as Jiraiya and Kakashi took up their positions. He glanced at the blond Hokage beside him and felt braver.

"Are you going to use your Sharingan, Kakashi?" Kurenai asked.

"No," Kakashi said. To everyone's surprise, he brought out a long white blade. They all recognised it to be the sword of the Konoha's White Fang.

"I prefer to preserve my chakra," Kakashi said, channelling his into the sword. In a moment, Kakashi's blade was crackling with lightning electricity.

Asuma, Kurenai, Gai and Anko stared at Kakashi, remembering what had happened on the day Kakashi's father had committed seppuku (suicide), ultimately having Kakashi to inherit his father's blade.

--

"_Look, isn't it that Hatake kid?"_

"_Heard about how his father betrayed the village?"_

"_The village wouldn't still be in war if it wasn't for the "great" Konoha White Fang,"_

"_It's all his fault!"_

_Kakashi ignored the mutterings as always. It had been 2 months since he had become Chunin and a month since his father had came home in disgrace. Ever since then, Kakashi had had to endure all sorts of insults about his father and himself. He had even heard someone criticising his sensei for teaching him once._

_The truth was that Kakashi didn't really care. His sensei had explained to him about how his father had made the right decision, even if the rest of the village didn't think so. Kakashi's only concern about the situation was about how his father was starting to die on the inside. Sakumo had not stepped out of the house ever since the mission and it had been up to Kakashi to look after the his father and the house._

_Asuma, Kurenai, Anko and Gai watched the silver haired boy carry on with his shopping. They were at the market and Kakashi was picking out the best carrots to buy. He seemed so calm and unbothered by the village's mutterings and the four genins watching him were very impressed by how he held himself up with dignity._

"_Orochimaru sensei told me that the Kakashi kid and his father was a disgrace to the village!" Anko said vehemently._

"_What? That's rubbish" Gai said indignantly. "My Eternal Rival is not a disgrace! He was brilliant in the Chunin Exams. You saw how he won the entire tournament!"_

"_You can't blame Kakashi for something his father did, Anko," Asuma said gently._

"_I think his father was right," Kurenai said, "Only a monster would just abandon their friends for the good of the mission."_

_Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by the sound they began to hear. A pack of wolves were howling…or was it a pack of dogs. The four Genins watched Kakashi curiously as the howling noise had made Kakashi drop the carrots he was holding._

_The little that could be seen of Kakashi's face turned pale and Kakashi started walking forward, towards the noise, in an almost dreamlike state. Suddenly Kakashi broke out into a run._

"_Out of my way!" Kakashi yelled, pushing Gai and Asuma away from the path. The six year old Chunin began to run in the direction of his house, which as the four ten year old Genins realised, was where the sound was coming from. _

"_What was all that about?" Gai asked his friends. His friends merely shook their heads, looking just as confused as him._

_Later on that day, the four of them went past the Hatake's house. To their shock and horror, the place was surrounded by Uchicha clan police. A fully grown body with a white cloth covering it was being carried out. The silver hair which peeked out slightly left Asuma, Gai, Anko and Kurenai no doubt as to who the body belonged to._

_Kurenai spotted Kakashi and nudged her friends. Kakashi was being carried by his sensei, his head buried in his sensei's shoulder and his hands hugging his sensei tightly. Minato was stroking his student's hair softly and was gently comforting Kakashi._

_It was a day that Asuma, Gai, Kurenai and Anko would never forget. Because it was that day which finally turned Kakashi's steel heart into glass._

_--_

"What?" Kakashi asked his comrades who were staring at him. 

Gai, Kurenai, Asuma and Anko simply shook their head "nothing" and returned to looking at the approaching enemy. The missing nins were so close that their faces were distinguishable.

"Prepare yourselves ninjas," the blond Hokage said tersely. "The battle will begin in a few seconds."

**What do you think? This is actually the longest chapter I have ever written. I really hope you enjoyed it. I'm finding it quite hard to try and get Sasuke's character right, and I hope that Jiraiya is in character as well. He's a very complex person to write about.**

**Anyway, please, please, review!**

**Review!!**


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you so much for all the reviews

**Thank you so much for all the reviews! I really appreciate other people telling me about what they think about my story.**

**Firstly, I have got to apologize about something. At the end of the last chapter, I wrote that Kakashi still had his father's sword. I haven't read the manga before and so I didn't know that the sword was broken by the rock nin. **

**Lets just say that Kakashi went back to retrieve the pieces of the sword and had it fixed.**

Konoha and the missing nins collided. In just a few moments, Kakashi found himself thick in battle. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Asuma battling a rogue cloud nin and Kurenai was already driving a kunai into an enemy. Kakashi closed his eye and thought the situation through, before raising his sword to block a killing blow from the enemy. He had already decided that he would kill at least 30 to 40 of the enemy.

The battle was bloody. Specks of blood were flying everywhere. Blood stained Kakashi's hair, clothes and skin. In the space that it took for a Konoha ninja to kill and enemy, Kakashi managed to kill five.

Unknown to Kakashi, he was being watched by the famous Toad Sage. Whilst killing the missing nins, Jiraiya was keeping an eye on Kakashi. He knew that his student would probably haunt him for the rest of his life if he allowed Kakashi to be killed. That was if Naruto didn't kill him first.

Jiraiya killed another of the enemy and recalled the moment he had first met Kakashi. It had been a year since Konoha's White Fang had committed suicide.

_Jiraiya had not seen Minato for two years due to a mission and he had decided to get together with his favourite student._

"_Long time no see," Jiraiya grinned at Minato. Minato had grown taller but his hair was still an unruly mess and his blue eyes continued to sparkle with mischief. _

"_Hey sensei!" Minato smiled. They were at a pub where it was so crowded that Jiraiya and Minato had trouble to get a table for two. They eventually found two seats and sat down for a chat._

"_Heard you've finally gotten yourself a student," Jiraiya commented. Minato nodded._

"_He's the White Fang's son. Hatake Kakashi," Minato said. "I call him Kashi, just as a nickname."_

_Jiraiya sighed at the mention of Hatake Sakumo. He had been firm friends with Sakumo and the two of them had occasionally went on S-ranked missions._

"_His son?" Jiraiya said astonished. "But the kid can't be more than seven years old!"_

_Minato nodded again. "And he's already a Chunin."_

"_What!"_

"_Kashi took the exam last year," Minato said, passing Jiraiya a cup of sake. Jiraiya took a large gulp._

"_Wow," Jiraiya mumbled._

"_Kashi's been staying with me ever since his father died." Minato said quietly. "He still gets nightmares."_

_Jiraiya stared at his student. He remembered Kakashi's mother. She was a pretty woman who had died about six years ago. Apparently, she had been protecting her son from a rogue nin who was trying to kill him. She had killed the missing nin but at the cost of her life. Jiraiya's contemplating was interrupted by a shout._

"_You!" a clearly drunk jounin pointed at Minato._

"_Me?" Minato asked confusedly._

"_You!" the jounin's compainion said, also clearly drunk. "You're the one who teaches that Hatake brat!"_

"_If you ask me, I think that brat should go and drown himself. Then the Hatakes won't be able to disgrace the village again!"_

_Minato got up swiftly and punched the unfortunate man straight in the face. The man was knocked off his feet and he crashed into a wall. Jiraiya had never seen his student look so angry._

"_Let's go to my house, sensei," Minato said, breathing heavily. He pushed past the drunk jounin roughly and his sensei followed him._

_Soon both of them were sitting in Minato's kitchen, having a cup of coffee. Minato didn't speak about Kakashi again but instead asked Jiraiya about his latest mission. They were chatting merely till they were interrupted by a child's cry._

"_Kashi." Minato said briefly. He got up and headed upstairs. Jiraiya followed him into the room opposite Minato's. The last time he had seen Kakashi was when Kakashi was just one day old. Jiraiya saw Kakashi and just had to gasp._

_The boy looked so much like his father. He wasn't wearing his mask and Jiraiya had to admit that Kakashi was one seriously cute kid._

_Kakashi was being hugged by his sensei and seemed to have woken up from a bad dream. He wasn't crying but the seven year old was shaking and shivering even though it wasn't cold._

"_Go back to sleep Kashi," Minato murmured. "It was just another nightmare."_

_Jiraiya watched as the silver haired boy went back to sleep in his sensei's arms. Minato laid the boy back onto the bed gently and smiled at Jiraiya tiredly._

"_He doesn't seem like Chunin material," Jiraiya noted. Minato raised his eyebrow._

"_He's way tougher than he looks. I'll introduce him to you in the morning. But he's so distant nowdays."_

"_What are you going to do?"_

"_I'm going to get him some teammates." Minato said decisively._

Jiraiya smiled. Minato did indeed introduce Kakashi to Jiraiya the next day. And Jiraiya had been taken back by how emotionless the boy was and also by how talented he was as well.

Minato's plan about getting Kakashi to stop being so distant did work. But at the price of a ten year old boy's life.

The battle was being watched by the Akatsuki members. They were all enjoying the battle immensely.

"We need a bit more shadows," Deidara cackled. "A bit more red at that place and maybe a tiny bit more slanted light and then- voila!"

"What makes you so sure that the jinchuriki would come out before the all clear signal, Itachi san?" Tobi asked.

The other Akatsuki members looked at Itachi as well, curious to know the answer.

"You see that silver haired jounin over there?" Itachi asked in a monotone. The Akatsuki looked at where Itachi had gestured. The jounin was fighting very skillfully with his stained red blade which had white sparks going through it. The man's vest had been slashed off but in the time it took for the Akatsuki members to inspect the man, he had already 4 of the missing nins.

"Impresive," Hidan acknowledged. "And he's only in his twenties."

"He's the jinchuriki's sensei," Itachi said. "I have heard that they are really close. At the first sign that the battle is ending, the jinchuriki would rush out to check on his sensei."

"Who is that guy?" Deidara asked, creating models of blood sucking birds out of clay.

"Hatake Kakashi," Kisame said with a shark like grin. "He's known as the Sharingan Warrior or the Copy Ninja."

"Never knew that the Copy Ninja was so young." Hidan grunted.

"Look," Tobi said excitedly. "The battle is almost over. Looks like Konoha is winning."

"Sakura! Sasuke!" Naruto yelled. "The battle is almost over!"

"So what baka?" Sasuke asked grumpily. "Konoha is winning."

"We've got to go and check on Kakashi sensei!"

"I'm sure Kakashi sensei is fine Naruto," Sakura said in a small voice. "Besides, the all clear signal hasn't been given out yet."

"We've got to make sure!" Naruto said frustrated. "Kakashi sensei might be needing a medic nin."

"Naruto might be right Sasuke," Sakura said concernedly. Sasuke sighed and glanced at Iruka who was nearby.

"Fine," Sasuke said, "but we've got to go without alerting Iruka sensei."

Naruto smirked cheekily as he got an idea.

The battle was over. Kakashi surveyed those still alive and those who were dead. Konoha had won but had lost 15 jounins and 5 Anbu members. Kakashi's close comrade were still alive however and for that, Kakashi sighed in relief.

"Kakashi sensei!"

Kakashi started and then groaned just as a blond haired boy flung himself onto his sensei. He was closely followed by Sakura(who was flinching at all the dead bodies) and Sasuke.

"Naruto!" Kakashi scowled. "You shouldn't be here. None of you should be here! The signal hasn't been given out yet!"

Kakashi's telling off didn't seem to be working however as his students just kept grinning sheepishly. They were just glad that their sensei was alive. Kakashi sighed as he randomly remembered about his old team.

_Kakashi had been annoyed at the fact that he had to be partnered with a clumsy Uchiha boy and a lovesick medic nin. Obito and Rin. His sensei had told him that by working with others, he would be able to build on his leadership skills. As having leadership skils was an important factor to be a jounin, Kakashi had reluctantly agreed._

_As time flew by, Kakashi had gotten used to the Uchiha and the medic nin. Even though he never showed it, he was glad that he was put in a team. He sometimes secretly smiled at Obito's antics and privately respected Rin for being so patient._

_Of course, there were times at which Kakashi would gladly kill his teammates. The time at which Obito had painted Kakashi was one of them_

"_OBITO!!"_

_The inhuman scream of rage made the four thirteen year olds start. Asuma, Gai, Kurenai and Genma felt slightly apprehensive by the scream._

_A nine year old boy was racing towards them as though his life was in danger, which in a way, was true. The boy had a shock of black hair and he wore orange goggles. He seemed to be trying not to laugh as he stopped by Asuma, Kurenai, Gai and Genma._

"_You have got to help me!" Obito sputtered._

"_What's wrong?" Gai asked. Obito stopped panting and tried to look casual._

"_Oh, nothing. Just that Kashi wants to kill me," Obito said nonchalantly._

"_What did you do?" Genma asked suspiciously._

_His question was answered as an enraged Kakashi came around the corner. Kakashi's hair had been painted in pink and blue stripes and not just that- his face above the mask, had a pink pattern painted on it._

"_I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" Kakashi glared at Obito._

"_Calm down Kakashi," Obito laughed uneasily, "the paint will wear off- eventually."_

_He tried to hide behind Kurenai but Kurenai pushed him back forward. No one wanted to get in Kakashi's way when he was angry._

_Kakashi made to rush at Obito but he was held back by his sensei, who had suddenly appeared along with Rin. It seemed that Rin had wisely gone to alert her Minato about what had happened._

"_Sensei!" Kakashi yelled. "Just let me kill him! Please!"_

"_Kashi," Minato sighed. "You've got to stop wanting to kill Obito."_

"_Look at what he did!"_

"_Yes, I can see that," Minato said, "Obito, that was very wrong of you. Though I've got to admit, you do look very adorable in pink, Kashi,"_

"_SENSEI!"_

_By then, Gai, Asuma, Kurenai and Genma were laughing very hard indeed. Rin was trying to hide a smile while Minato and Obito were openly grinning._

"_Obito," Minato said, still trying to keep his hold on a struggling Kakashi, "you better escape- I mean go back home."_

_Still grinning, Obito nodded and ran off. Kakashi slumped in his sensei's grip as he realized that he had lost his chance in killing Obito._

Kakashi came back to reality as Naruto began talking again.

"You can't really be mad at us, sensei," Naruto said smugly. "Cause we used teamwork to get away from Iruka sensei!"

"You've still got to get out of here Naruto," Kakashi sighed. "The all clear signal hasn't been given out yet."

"Hah! What's so important about this all clear signal!" Naruto asked defiantly.

Just at that moment, there was a cry of alarm uttered by several shinobis. Kakashi spun around quickly and just barely managed to hold in a gasp. Behind him, he could hear Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke gasping in shock and horror.

Ten Akatsuki members had suddenly appeared. They all seemed ready to fight and looked in total control. Kakashi glanced around. The ninjas of Konoha could barely manage to stand up properly and how they were going to face the Akatsuki, Kakashi really didn't know. Already, some of the Akatsuki were edging towards Naruto.

Though Kakashi knew that the situation was serious, he couldn't resist having the last word with Naruto.

"And that's why you should always wait for the all clear signal." Kakashi said to Naruto.

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	4. Chapter 4

Kakashi acted

**HEY! Sorry I couldn't reply to any reviews. I've been really busy lately. But thank you very much for reviewing and thank you for giving me the manga websites. God did I have a lot to catch up on!**

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Kakashi acted. He lifted up his headband so that he could operate his Sharingan eye. Kakashi sent a fireball towards a blond who if memory served him right, was called Deidara. Deidara immediately blocked out the jutsu by creating a shield made suspiciously out of clay. Out of the corner of his eye, Kakashi could see Gai and Anko teaming up to battle Kisame, and Asuma was battling ferociously with a green plantlike person called Zetsu.

"You must be the famous Copy Ninja," Deidara said gleefully. He sent five kunais at Kakashi, who easily dodged it.

"Itachi san told me that he had fought you before," Deidara continued to chatter. "I am amazed that you're still alive. Usually, the ones he traps with his creepy Sharingan thing die off a few days later."

Kakashi felt exhausted. He had been both attacking and defending vigorously but none of it seemed to have any effect on Deidara. He dimly wondered at why Deidara was talking so much.

By the time Kakashi had realized what Deidara was up to, it was too late. Kakashi spun around quickly but before he was able to attack the Akatsuki who had been creeping up to him, he was grabbed roughly from behind. Kakashi was pretty sure that the Aktsuki was called Hidan.

Hidan gripped Kakashi's arms tightly and forced them to twist painfully behind Kakashi's back. Kakashi struggled with his attacker but Hidan was simply too strong. Deidara had already moved on to Kurenai, who was fighting for her life desperately.

"Kakashi sensei!"

Kakashi's head whipped around, only to see three of the Akatsuki members attacking Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. Some king of sticky black line was being wrapped around them and the lines were creeping upwards to their faces. Kakashi could tell that soon their mouths and noses who be covered, not allowing them to breathe.

Naruto opened his mouth again.

"Kakashi sensei!!"

Kakashi struggled more intensely with his holder, who maintained a tight grip on Kakashi. The cursed Akatsuki chuckled in amusement and lowered his mouth close to Kakashi's ear.

"Looks like your students are calling you, sensei," Hidan murmured. Kakashi growled and carried on trying to break free, though he felt that it wasn't humanely possible.

"Kakashi sensei!!" Naruto screamed once more before the sticky black line completely covered his mouth. Gai tried to help Naruto and the others but he was simply flicked way by the black line.

Kakashi was beginning to panic. He was being forced to watch his students suffocate.

"Use your head, Kakashi," Kakashi thought desperately to himself. "Think of something you idiot! Use your head!"

"_Use your head!"_

Kakashi bent his head lower down and brought it up quickly, smashing directly into Hidan's face. The man howled in pain and released his grip on Kakashi. Kakashi ran forward without any hesitation. Jiraiya and Tsunade were quite far away, battling two Akatsukis at once. Kakashi thought he had actually heard one of the Akatsuki call Jiraiya "sensei".

It seemed however, that it was up to Kakashi to get his students out of the situation they were in.

"Chidori!" Kakashi's hand was immediately surrounded with blue chakra and he rushed forwards at the Akatsuki who was conducting the treacherous black lines. Kakashi recognized him to be Kakuzu.

Kakuzu's eyes widened as Kakashi smashed his hadn into Kakuzu's heart. The black lines engulfing Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura began to disappear, leaving behind three unconscious, but mercifully very much alive, Genins.

After wrenching his hand back out of Kakuzu's body, Kakashi sighed in relief. But he quickly noted that the night wasn't over and the other Akatsuki members were heading towards Naruto once more. Kakashi spotted Itachi among them and shivered slightly as he remembered about how he was trapped in the genjutsu. It was also a good thing that Sasuke wasn't conscious - Kakashi didn't think that he would be able to cope with a murderous Sasuke as well.

Kakashi placed himself in front of his students. He saw two fatal jutsus flying towards him and he quickly performed a shield jutsu. Kakashi's shield jutsu managed to block out the attacking jutsus but just barely. Kakashi could feel Obito's Sharingan eye slowly draining his chakra. By the way things were going, Kakashi estimated that he had only five minutes left before he blacked out.

After performing yet another shield jutsu and three attacking jutsus, Kakashi was struck with a plan.

"Summoning no jutsu!" Kakashi yelled and he slammed his bloody hand into the ground. However, instead of the usual pack appearing, only the bandaged dog appeared.

"Master?" the dog inquired.

"I…need you to take…," Kakashi panted, sending five kunais at the enemy, "Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura…to a safe place."

"Till when master?"

"I'll alert you when to take them back to Konoha," Kakashi gasped out and backed up slightly. The bandaged dog nodded but not before looking concernedly towards Kakashi.

"What about you master?"

"Three is you maximum," Kakashi said shortly, wiping away the blood dripping onto his eyes. "Go, now!"

The dog closed it's eyes and a bright light filled the scene momentarily. After the light had faded away, all the Akatsuki members shrieked out in anger and despair. For the jinchuriki was gone, along with his teammates. Only the Copy Ninja was left, looking thoroughly exhausted but triumphant at the same time.

Kakashi suddenly found himself the centre of the Akatsuki members' attacks. It took him all of his concentration and energy to simply doge all the deadly attacks aimed at him.

"Stop!" the leader yelled at his Akatsuki comrades. "We need him alive!"

"Alive?" Kakashi thought confusedly. "Why do they need me alive?"

Kakashi groaned internally as he realized why the Akatsuki wanted him alive. After all, he was the only one who could reach Naruto and the Akatsuki would need him to summon his dog again, to bring Naruto back.

"I really should think about the consequences?" Kakashi asked himself tiredly. He just barely avoided getting hit by a jutsu that would have knocked him out.

Kakashi unconsciously thought about the consequences he had faced for accepting Obito's Sharingan eye.

--FLASHBACK--

_Kakashi was nervously waiting outside the Uchihas main hall. He was waiting with his sensei, who kept giving him a comforting smile. By the muffled loud voices Kakashi could hear, he suspected that the Uchiha elders were angry._

"_You can come in now," an Uchiha opened the main hall's door and gestured for Kakashi and his sensei to go through._

_Kakashi entered the wide room and felt small almost immediately. All the important Uchihas were seated around the room. Their red fan emblem painted on each of the four walls of the room._

"_You're Hatake Kakashi," an Uchiha elder stated. Kakashi nodded._

"_You're Namikaze Minato," the same Uchiha said to Kakashi's sensei. Minato nodded as well._

"_Do you know why you're here boy," another Uchiha asked roughly. He couldn't have been more than a few years older than Minato but he had an arrogant air around him. His name tag read "Isai"_

"_No," Kakashi said simply. Isai hissed in anger._

"_Because you have stolen what clearly belongs to an Uchiha," Isai yelled. His words made the other Uchihas around him nod in agreement._

"_Obito gave his Sharingan to Kashi as a gift," Minato said. His voice had a cold edge anger to it, which Kakashi had rarely heard before._

"_For all we know," Isai hissed, "the Hatake brat murdered Uchiha Obito and threatened that medic nin to transplant the eye."_

_Minato drew in his breath sharply in anger and Kakashi snarled under his breath in disgust. Minato gently squeezed Kakashi's hand, warning him not to get angry. Kakashi almost smiled. It was Minato who seemed more likely to attack the loudmouthed Uchiha._

"_Your body will eventually reject the eye," an Uchiha medic nin said to Kakashi. Minato shook his head._

"_The Sharingan eye only drains Kashi's chakra when it's used or exposed," Minato said steadily. "Right now, Kakashi is able to use it for at least ten minutes but I'm sure that he will be able to use for a longer time in the future. All he needs is some practice,"_

"_Nevertheless Minato," an elderly Uchiha protested, "he is not of an Uchiha."_

"_That doesn't matter!" Minato yelled. He closed his eyes for a while and forced himself to calm down._

"_Obito gave his Sharingan eye to Kashi as a gif. It was his final wish for Kashi to gain the Sharingan eye," Minato said calmly, "Please don't deny Obito's wish."_

_Kakashi gripped his sensei's hand tightly as the Uchihas finally gave Kakashi the consent to keep Obito's eye. Isai glared at him angrily. _

"_You're exactly like your father, brat" Isai said venomously. Kakashi kept his bored expression on._

"_I wish that I was like my father," Kakashi said lazily. "He managed to rescue all of his teammates. I didn't."_

_Minato smiled at his favourite student prudly. It seemed that Kakashi was finally learning that the true meaning of life was to protect those you love._

Kakashi fought the Akatsukis bravely. Anyone could see that. But his chakra levels were dangerously low and not to mention the fact that the Sharingan was slowly draining his remaining chakra.

Gai, Asuma and Kurenai raced forwards to aid Kakashi while Jiraiya and Tsunade were forced to battle Tobi and Deidara. Itachi and Kisame however, faced Gai, Asuma and Kurenai and prevented them from reaching Kakashi.

A jutsu finally managed to hit Kakashi. Kakashi felt the wind get knocked out of him and he dropped onto his knees, his guard completely lowered. Another jutsu hit him and Kakashi groaned as his world started to turn black. He slumped to the ground and blacked out.

His last thought was that at least his students were safe.

"Everyone get back to base," Pein declared. He had short orange hair and stud marking his face. "Kisame, you carry the Copy Nin and everyone else move."

Kisame broke away form his fight with Asuma and slung Kakashi over his shoulder. In just a few seconds, all of the Akatsuki members had gone - along with the famous Sharingan Warrior.

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	5. Chapter 5

Naruto groaned and fluttered open his eyes

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Naruto groaned and fluttered open his eyes. He groaned again and opened his eyes fully. He the gasped at what he saw.

Naruto was sitting on a tall, tall hill and from the hill; he could see miles and miles of beautiful lands stretching out in front of him. Beside him, Sakura and Sasuke were also waking up and they too were mesmerized by the view.

"Nice view isn't it?"

Naruto started at the voice. Pakkun was lying down boredly by his feet.

"Pakkun?" Sakura said surprised.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke demanded roughly. Pakkun got up on his studgy legs and stared lazily at the Uchiha boy.

"The question is, what are you three doing here?" Pakkun drawled. For the first time, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura noticed all of Kakashi's nin dogs lying around on the hill. Upon noticing that the Genins were awake, the dogs all walked up to them.

"What is this place?" Naruto asked in wonderment.

"This," Pakkun said, "is a place where Kakashi sends us when he doesn't need us for battles or tracking. It's where we dogs chill out basically."

"What are we doing here then?" Sakura asked. "The last thing I remember was the Akatsuki ambush and Naruto screaming for Kakashi sensei."

"I think that you have some information to contribute," Pakkun glared at the bandaged dog. The bandaged dog looked both worried and distressed and looked at Kakashi's students.

"Master Kakashi heard you screaming for him, Naruto kun," the bandaged dog said. "He went to your rescue and forced the Akatsuki, Kakuzu he's called, to call back the jutsu he was using on the three of you."

"Go Kakashi sensei!"

"Shut up teme! I want to hear what happens next!"

"And then Master Kakashi summoned me," the dog continued. "He asked me to bring you three to here. He's always called this place a safe place."

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked, noticing the sad looks on the dogs' faces.

"He was already running low on chakra," the bandaged dog explained. "And he was clearly exhausted, Sakura chan. The last thing I heard was the Akatsuki leader saying that he wanted Master Kakashi captures alive."

"Why does the Akatsuki want Kakashi sensei?" Naruto yelled.

Pakkun scratched himself and flopped down.

"Because baka," Pakkun said obviously, "Akatsuki will want Kakashi to bring you back to them. The Akatsuki are probably torturing him now."

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were horrified and the other nin dog whimpered.

"What?!" Naruto shrieked.

"Don't worry," Pakkun said, "Kakashi won't break and give you to the Akatsuki."

"We're worried about Kakashi sensei!" Sakura screamed. "Not us!"

All the other nin dogs growled at Pakkun's uncaring attitude. Pakkun sighed.

"All right," Pakkun admitted. "I'm worried about him as well. But the brat's strong, he'll pull through. But until he alerts us, I'm afraid that you three are stuck here."

Kakashi groaned and his eye fluttered open. He took in his predicament instantly.

Kakashi's arms were chained to one of the dark walls of his prison cell. That itself was bad enough but what made it worse, was the fact that his arms were chained above him and his entire body was dangling down from the chains.

Someone had tightly tied Kakashi's forehead protector around Kakashi's head, to cover his Sharingan eye. Kakashi sighed mentally as he took in his surroundings.

He was in quite a big room which was filled with darkness. The only light source was a light bulb on the ceiling, directly above Kakashi's head. It meant that while Kakashi could be seen clearly, Kakashi would not be able to spot anyone hiding in the darkness of the room.

Kakashi's position made him feel strangely weak and vulnerable. Kakashi scowled in displeasure as he noticed that his mask had been ripped off.

Kakashi spotted a slight movement in the depths of the room. His observant eye zoomed into the place and he was sure that it was Zetsu who had disappeared into the floor.

"Great," Kakashi thought despairingly. "The cannibal is gone to inform the rest of the Akatsuki that I'm awake."

Kakashi could do nothing except to wait for the other Akatsuki to arrive. And as he waited, he simply remembered about his first encounter with his sensei's wife- Kushina.

--Flashback--

_The 4__th__ Hokage had been reluctant to introduce Kushina to his favourite student. He knew that if Kakashi didn't like Kushina, the entire wedding would be cancelled. For as much as he liked and loved Kushina, he would do almost anything for the boy he treated like a son._

"_Kashi," Minato said nervously, "this is Kushina. Kushina, this is Kashi- I mean Kakashi."_

_Minato waited apprehensively as the 13 year old ANBU and the 25 year old Jounin appraised each other coolly._

"_I'll …I'll be back in ten minutes," Minato said, making a quick eit. He prayed tat the two of them would get on well, Rin and Kushina were already as close as sisters._

"_Hi," Kushina smiled at Kakashi. Kakashi was caught off guard and he almost smiled back, almost._

"_Hi,"Kakashi said shortly. "It looks like my sensei is going to marry you."_

"_Yes," Kushina said awkwardly. _

_Kakashi nodded thoughtfully._

"_I've already checked out your background," Kakashi said. "So I know that you're not a kunochi who wants to murder sensei. Your mission have all been very successful and so, I know that you ca protect sensei. You've got a sharp temper and so you can keep sensei in check.. I know that overall, you're kind and generous and also very pretty. And so, I suppose you can marry sensei."_

_Kushina blushed pink and stared at the silver haired boy in front of her. She was beginning to understand why Minato adored the boy so much. Even though he looked serious, Kushina could see hidden childishness and laughter in his eyes. He was also so overprotective of his sensei._

"_Anything else?" _

"_Yes," Kakashi said, "You make sensei very happy and so, I'm happy that sensei is going to marry you._

_Kushina was both startled and happy. She felt so sad at the fact that Kakashi had lost both his parents and she instinctively gave Kakashi a motherly hug. _

_Kakashi tensed up under her. He was only used to his sensei giving him instinctive hugs. But Kakashi soon responded to Kushina's hug and hugged back._

"_You're still going to live with your sensei," Kushina said. "I don't mind. It's not like the house is too big for the three of us."_

"_You really don't mind?" Kakashi smiled. He may be an ANBU but he was still only thirteen years old and he didn't want to live by himself._

"_Thank you Kushina sama."_

"_It's all right- Kashi."_

_When Minato came back, he couldn't decide as to whether he should be angry or relieved. For both Kakashi and Kushina were laughing merrily as Kushina told Kakashi about how a fifteen year old Minato had started a war against cold ramen._

Kakashi was jerked back into the present as all the Akatsuki members started to spear in front of him. He could name all nine of them by using Jiraiya's information.

There was Pein, Zetsu, Deidara, Kakuzu- who was somehow still alive, Hidan, Kisame, Tobi, Konan and of course, Itachi.

But Kakashi was surprised to see a 10th member appear as well. The 10th member was the most beautiful woman Kakashi had ever seen. She was around his age but the trouble with her was that she knew that she was pretty.

"So I'm here because?" Kakashi asked casually, irritating Kakuzu.

"Don't play games with us boy!" Kakuzu shrieked. "Give us the demon boy or I'll rip your heart out!"

"Rip my heart out?" Kakashi mocked. "Now isn't that original."

Kakuzu snarled in angere and caused black lines to shoot out at Kakashi. However, he retreated the lines before it even touched Kakashi as Pein gave him a cool glare.

"Just hand over the jinchuriki back to us Kakashi," Pein said emotionlessly.

"You know," Kakashi sighed theatrically, "Naruto may be a brat sometimes, but I don't really want to give him a death sentence by handing him over to you."

"Your end will be quick if you give the demon boy to us." Kisame hissed.

"Don't make me laugh," Kakashi growled. "There are twelve ways in which I can kill myself quickly and painlessly. I don't need your help for it."

"This is your last chance to bring back the demon boy Kakashi," Hidan said threateningly. "If you don't give us back the demon boy, it's pain time!"

Kakashi's eye curved slightly.

"It's not very nice to call Naruto a demon boy, you know,"

Kakashi noticed that the only ones who didn't shriek in frustration were Pein, Tobi, Itachi and the other women. The beautiful woman actually smiled in amusement.

"You've made your choice Kakashi," Pein said simply, "Now suffer the consequences. Hidan, stay. Everyone else disperse."

All the other Akatsuki members went off. Kakashi braced himself as Hidan smiled cruelly.

Tsunade sighed as she rested her head on her hands. She was sitting in front of her desk on her office. Outside, the entire village was working together to repair the damage the battle had done. In front of her, was Gai – looking serious for once, Asuma, Kurenai and Jiraiya.

"Can you find no leads at all?" Tsunade asked in despair.

Jiraiya sighed and shook his head.

"At least the Akatsuki didn't get Naruto," Asuma said gravely. "Otherwise, the consequences would have been disastrous."

"Yes," Kurenai said sharply. "But now the Akatsuki are probably torturing Kakashi."

"It was a smart plan that Kakashi thought of," Jiraiya admitted.

"Do not worry!" Gai exclaimed. "I am sure that my Eternal Rival's youthfulness will return to us!"

Jiraiya nodded thoughtfully.

"Kakashi is smart," he said. "He probably has a back up plan. I suppose we just wait now."

Tsunade nodded.

"Hai," she said. "You're all dismissed. Go and help the village."

As the ninjas left the room, Jiraiya glanced at his student's picture on the wall.

"I'm sorry Minato," Jiraiya said quietly. "I failed to protect either of your sons!"

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	6. Chapter 6

Peaceful Dove

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Pain. That was all Kakashi could think of as the hits and blows kept coming at him. Hidan been repeatedly beating him, sometimes with a stick and sometimes with his hands.

Hidan backhanded Kakashi violently.

"Give us the demon boy Kakashi," he hissed. Kakashi coughed out more blood and his face scrunched up in pain.

"Get lost," Kakashi murmured wearily. Hidan snarled in anger and viciously punched Kakashi in the stomach.

"Uoof!" Kakashi bent over slightly in agony. Hidan hit him a few more times and gave up, leaving a thoroughly beaten up but not broken, Kakashi behind.

--

The nine Akatsuki members turned around to look questioningly at Hidan as he entered the room.

"Well?"?" Kisame barked.

"He won't break," Hidan spat out angrily.

"You can't even break a simple sensei! You're useless Hidan!" Deidara giggled.

"Shut up Deidara!" Hidan snarld.

"Both of you, stop it." Tobi said simply. Hidan stopped glaring at Deidara.

"You disappoint me Hidan," Pein said, shaking his head.

"The guy cares a lot about the demon boy," Hidan scowled. "He also used to be an ANBU commander. He must have been through other tortures before. Why can't Itachi just use his Sharingan thing?"

"Because," Tobi replied, " the more he uses his "Sharingan thing" , the more quicker the blindness will fall upon him."

"Kisame," Pin said coldly, "will take over next. That Copy Ninja will have to break soon."

Silence fell upon the room, broken suddenly by Itachi.

"Weher are you going Sarunai?" he asked the beautiful Akatsuki member, who had been heading out.

"Just getting some fresh air," she said merilly. "This whole having a secret lair inside a mountain really have it's drawbacks."

She left the room but in truth, Sarunai had no intention of getiting some fresh air. She made her way towards where she knew the very handsome prisoner was being kept. Sarunai figured that she might get him to bring back the demon boy by using the typical kunoichi method, seducing. The fact that she would have fun along the way was only an added bonus.

Kakashi's head snapped up as he heard his prison door open. The beautiful Akatsuki woman he had seen before came out of the shadows.

"Hello," she said. Her voice sounded so perfect. "My name is Sarunai."

"Pleasure to meet you Sarunai. I'm Kakashi," Kakashi said, going along with the act.

Sarunai came closer to him. In fact, she was a little to close, which made Kakashi start to feel uncomfortable. Sarunai cupped her hand around Kakashi's cheek.

"Why do you wear a mask?" she asked sweetly. "You have a very attractive face."

"Thank you," Kakashi replied, angling his face out of her grasp. "You're not bad yourself."

Sarunai laughed delightfully and came closer to Kakashi, so that their bodies were touching. Her finger traveled down Kakashi's cheek lightly and she whispered seductively into his ear.

"Just give us the demon boy, Kakashi," she murmured. "Then you and I can have some fun."

Kakashi shivered slightly and drew back into the wall.

"I appreciate the offer but- mmph!"

Kakashi's words were suddenly muffled as Sarunai kissed him full on the lips. Her kiss was both hungry and passionate. Her fingers entangled into Kakashi's hair and she forced him to lean into the kiss.

Kakashi's eye closed for a moment as he remembered about what happened to the first and last girl he had ever loved.

--Flashback--

"_Let Rin go, Kansai!" Kakashi growled dangerously. With his wolf mask hanging at the side of his head, Kakashi looked very dangerous indeed._

_Kansai and the other missing nins around him laughed. Kansai allowed the kunai he was holding to Rin's neck touch Rin's neck, a small pinprick of blood flowed down her neck. Kakashi tightened his grip on the kunai he was holding._

"_You can't tough us Kakashi!" Kansai said gleefully. "Because this is a projection. We are miles away from where you are."_

_The ANBU team around Kakashi bristled. They longed to throw their kunais straight at Kansai but logic told them that the kunais would simply pass through the screen. A jounin team was also there, looking both angry at Kansai's betrayal and concerned for Rin's safety._

_Earlier that day, the blond haired Hokage had assigned Kakashi 2 ANBU teams and jounin team to complete an important mission. The jounin team consisted of Asuma, Kurenai, Gai, Genma, Rin and – Kansai. _

_The ANBU members had long since learned to respect Kakashi, and so having a commander roughly half their own age did not bother them._

_The mission had been a complete success but Kakashi had quickly noticed that Kansai and Rin were missing. After searching for a while, Kakashi, the ANBU and the other jounins had came across the projection screen. Kansai was holding Rin roughly and had a kunai at her throat. Blinded by his greed, Kansai had become a missing nin._

"_Here's the deal Kakashi," Kansai said cruelly, "you give me the new village codes and I'll give you back your lover girl."_

_Kakashi assessed the situation. Only his sensei and himself knew the brand new village codes. If Kakashi revealed the codes to Kansai and the other missing nins with him, there would be no telling what kind of disaster would strike the village. But on the other hand, if Kakashi did nit tell him the codes, he would loose another loved one._

_Everyone looked at the silver haired commander, waiting for his decision. Kakashi wished that it wasn't him who was the commander. He felt like screaming out that he was only thirteen. But Kakashi knew that even if he was only thirteen, he was still commander. And as commander, he had to take responsibility._

_Silence hung in the air. Kakashi already knew about what the others with him were thinking. The ANBU would rather Kakashi not reveal the codes. But the jounin team, which loved Rin for her kindness and patience would want Kakashi to tell Kansai the codes. _

_Kakashi almost reluctantly looked up at Rin. She wasn't able to speak because of the kunai at her throat but she gave Kakashi one of her beautiful smiles before shaking her head very slightly. Kakashi understood. She would rather die than live to witness the disasters which would strike Konoha if the codes were said._

"_Well little wolf? Are you going to give me the codes or not?" Kansai asked._

"…_no." Kakashi said quietly, his eyes transfixed on Rin's._

_Kurenai let a sob escape her as Kansai snarled in anger and viciously dug the kunai into Rin's throat. He let Rin go, causing her to fall first on her knees and then to slump onto the floor._

_Kurenai, Gai and Asuma had tears running down their faces. Kakashi remembered that Gai had loved Rin for a long time. Genma had his eyes closed in despair but the ANBU were motionless as ever._

_Kakashi felt tears start to well up in Obito's eye._

"_**I'm sorry that I couldn't save her Obito"**_

_There was a pool of blood around Rin. With her last strength, she looked up at Kakashi and smiled sadly._

"_Obito and I will watch over you in heaven." She whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. Rin died before Kakashi got the chance to tell her that he loved her._

_--_

Sarunai released Kakashi and surfaced from the kiss. She smiled at him prettily.

"Well Kakashi? Bring back the demon boy and then, we can be together." Sarunai whispered.

Kakashi stared at her for a moment, before laughing out loud scornfully.

"Sorry, but you're not my type." he mocked.

Sarunai gaped at him in shock and horror. No one had ever refused her before. Her face twisted horribly in anger and hate, and she slapped him across the face. Kakashi watched her exit dramatically.

Kakashi waited until he was sure that she was gone and that no one else was coming. He pursed his lips and whistled. His whistle was loud, true and clear. Kakashi smiled as the image of a came into view.

By whistling, he couldn't exactly summon a dog but but an image of the dog will appear in front of him, allowing him to communicate with the dog.

"Master Kakashi!" the dog was both angry and horrified by Kakashi's condition.

Kakashi grinned and of blood trickled form the corner of his mouth.

"Is it really that bad?"

"Even Pakkun would advise you to go to the hospital immediately." the bandaged dog said, shaking it's head wearily.

"Well, I'm going to look a lot worse," Kakashi said to his loyal dog. "I don't think the Akatsuki is finished with me yet."

The dog whimpered and tried to lock it's master's fingers, but being just and image, it couldn't touch Kakashi physically.

"How's Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura?" Kakashi asked.

"They're perfectly fine," the dog sniffed. "But they are very worried about you."

Kakashi nodded and groaned at the pain the slight movement had caused.

"I called you here," Kakashi said, "because I want you to bring Naruto and the others back to Konoha."

"All right," the dog nodded. Kakashi sniffed the air. A fishy smell was approaching him. The dog cocked it's head to one side as it heard footsteps approaching.

"It's Kisame." Kakashi said hoarsely. "You better go now."

The bandaged dog looked at it's suffering master again and vanished.

**Please, please review and let me know about what you think!**

**Thanks!**


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you so much for all the reviews

**Sorry about the delay! School has started and I've got my SATs in two weeks. I really wish that it's the holidays again.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoy the update!**

Tsunade looked out of her office window. The sky was as black as ink and the clouds floating past obscured the stars. Tsunade sighed. There had still been no trace of Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke or even Kakashi. An ANBU dropped into the room and Tsunade looked at him questioningly.

"The three Genins have all been found, Hokage sama." The ANBU said.

"Where are they?" Tsunade asked, glad that Naruto had finally been found.

"They are all unharmed," the ANBU said, much to Tsunade's relief, "but they are still in the medical ward in the hospital."

Tsunade immediately headed to the hospital at once. She asked for the ANBU member to bring Gai, Asuma, Kurenai, Genma, Raidou and Jiraiya, to the hospital. She met up with the five jounins and the sannin at the hospital.

"Where are they?" Jiraiya asked quickly. Tsunade opened the door to the ward and sure enough, a blond boy, a black haired boy and a pink haired girl were sitting one three separate beds.

"Are you alright?" Tsunade asked. Naruto rubbed his eyes sleepily and gave the Hokage thumbs up.

"We're fine Lady Hokage." Sakura smiled and Sasuke nodded grimly.

"The same can't be said for Master Kakashi."

All the jounins started as they noticed Kakashi's nin dogs lying around beside the hospital beds.

"What do you mean?" Kurenai asked sharply. She felt concerned for the man she saw as an annoying brother. The bandaged dog sighed.

"He summoned my image," the dog said, "to tell me to bring Naruto san, Sakura chan and Sasuke san back to Konoha."

"Told you he had a back up plan." Jiraiya muttered.

"Master Kakashi needs immediate medical attention." the dog said. He didn't emphasize further on Kakashi's condition.

"We've got to go and get Kakashi sensei back!" Naruto shouted.

"Hai," Tsunade said. "But Naruto, we don't know where he is."

One of Kakashi's dogs gave an exited bark.

"We can trace Kakashi to where he is," it said excitedly. "Our chakra is connected."

Tsunade was pleased.

"A rescue squad will be dispatched immediately." she said briskly. "Two ANBU squads and a jounin squad. Gai, Asuma, Genma, Raidou and Kurenai, you're all going to be the jounin squad. Jiraiya, you're going with them as well."

Naruto looked happy that his sensei was about to be rescued but then he realized what Tsunade meant.

"Granny!" Naruto yelled. "You've got to let us come as well."

"No Naruto." Gai said solemnly. "This is too dangerous for Genins."

"But-!"

"Shut up baka." Sasuke said moodily.

Naruto looked at him, startled. He was sure that Sasuke wanted to rescue their sensei as well. Sasuke gave Naruto a secret wink and Naruto smiled.

It looked like he and his friends were going to rescue their sensei whether the Hokage liked it or not.

--

"Oof!" Kakashi groaned.

Kisame had had a turn with him and after that had failed to break Kakashi, it was Deidara's turn.

"Come on sensei." Deidara said gleefully. "Just give us the jinchuriki."

Kakashi was forced to scream as Deidara carved out a pattern on his arm. He wasn't sure how long the Akatsuki were going to torture him for but the one thing he was sure about was that he would never break.

"Why do you care so much about the boy anyway?" Deidara asked looking puzzled. "He is only your student."

As Kakashi screamed in pain again, he wondered about why he cared so much for Naruto. He loved both Sakura and Sasuke a lot but with Naruto, he really did feel a special connection. Whenever he was with Naruto, it was sometimes like being together with his sensei again.

Kakashi remembered seeing Naruto for the first time- in Konoha's maternity ward.

--Flashback--

"_Come on Kashi!" Minato eagerly pulled the 14 year old into the room. "Come and see Naruto!"_

_Kakashi entered the hospital ward. Kushina was lying on the bed with a small blond haired baby in her arms. She was smiling happily and Jiraiya, who was standing beside her, poked at the baby curiosly. The baby immediately began to cry._

"_I am a father!" Minato yelled, happily dancing around the room. "Can you believe it?"_

"_I don't think he can believe it himself." Jiraiya muttered to Kakashi, who nodded amusedly. Naruto continued to cry as Kushina comforted him gently_

"_It's all right," she cooed softly. "Mummy's here."_

_Jiraiya sighed in exasperation and scooped up Naruto into his big arms._

"_That's not how you do it Kushina." he explained to the alarmed mother. "You have to set the rules. Now listen here you little brat! If you don't stop crying, I'll throw you off the cliff!" _

_Minato sighed at his sensei as Naruto began to cry harder. He deftly took Naruto away from Jiraiya and smiled at Kakashi._

"_Do you want to hold him Kashi?" Minato asked and Kushina smiled her encouragement._

"_No!" Kakashi said, looking alarmed. "I'll probably drop it - him."_

_Jiraiya laughed, along with Minato and Kushina. The chances that the young ANBU would drop anything at all were an absolute 0._

"_C'mon Kashi," Minato grinned, He held out a bundle of blankets to Kakashi, who took it gingerly. All the adults gasped as the baby stopped crying and started to thrill happily. Kakashi looked at his sensei's son curiously._

"_He looks so much like you sensei." Kakashi said, rocking Naruto slightly. Naruto peeked at curiously as well. He couldn't understand why the silver haired person holding him didn't have a nose or a mouth. Naruto's choppy hand reached out to pull down Kakashi's mask but Kakashi stopped him._

"_But he's very like you as well Kushina sama." Kakashi said blandly.Kushina laughed and reached out to take back Kakashi._

"_It looks like Naruto likes you very much Kashi," Minato grinned. "I can just about imagine him with a gang of friends trying to see what's under your mask."_

_Kakashi raised his eyebrow as the adults started to laugh again._

_--_

Despite the pain he was in, Kakashi smiled as he remembered that Naruto did indeed try to find out what was under his mask. Naruto had grown into a very kind boy with a big heart and high ambitions.

"You would have been so proud of him sensei, Kushina sama," Kakashi thought silently.

--

"I put a tracking device on one of Kakashi sensei's dogs." Sasuke smiled slyly.

"Didn't the dog notice?" Sakura asked and Sasuke nodded.

"Yeah it did," he said. "But I reckon it thinks that the more people who wants to rescue Kakashi sensei, the better."

"So," Naruto said, "We just follow the tracking signal which will lead us to Kakashi sensei."

"Hai teme!"

"Let's go now then!" Naruto grinned. Sasuke shook his head.

"Not so fast baka! We've got to let the rescue squad go in front first! Otherwise they'll notice that we're following them!" Sasuke said.

The three of them waited for a while before following the tracking signal.

"Just wait Kakashi sensei!" Naruto thought to himself. "You saved us and now we'll save you!"

**What did you think! Please, please review!  
By the way, is there anyone else who is surprised by the latest update of the Naruto manga?**

**REVIEW!!**


	8. Chapter 8

"So this is the Akatsuki's lair," Jiraiya said thoughtfully looking at the small entrance crack in the mountain

**I'm sorry that this chapter is so late! I had my Key Stage 3 exams and was so busy!**

**Anyway, here's the new chapter! Enjoy!**

"So this is the Akatsuki's lair," Jiraiya said thoughtfully looking at the small entrance crack in the mountain. The nin dogs beside him were quivering with both excitement and the fact that their beloved master was so close.

"That's where my Eternal Rival is!" Gai shouted. Kurenai had to hit him hard on the head to shut him up.

"We need a plan," Asuma said and Genma nodded. The ANBU squads beside them simply stood, looking lifeless and waiting for their commands.

There was a sudden rustle in the bush beside the jounins, the sannin and the ANBU. Everyone stared at the bush suspiciously as the sannin went closer to investigate.

Jiraiya dragged out three sheepish looking Genins out of the bush.

"Hi!" Naruto grinned while his teammates sighed.

"What are you three doing here?" Asuma asked gruffly. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura glared at Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino's sensei.

"It's _our _sensei in there," Naruto pointed out.

"We want to help sensei out," Sakura said determinately.

"We're going," Sasuke scowled. "Deal with it."

"They're not going to listen to reason," Pakkun sighed. "Might as well let them go in there and risk their scrawny necks."

Jiraiya was absolutely furious with his student's student's students.

"You..followed…us!" Jiraiya was finding it hard to speak. "You three are so dumb, you should all be walking on all fours!"

Kakashi's dogs growled at the sannin who backtracked immediately.

"Not that there's anything wrong with that." Jiraiya added. "Right, here's the plan."

Everyone moved closer to listen and the nin dogs perked up their ears to listen.

"I'll go with the dogs to find the brat - I mean Kakashi," Jiraiya said. "The rest of you will keep the Akatsuki busy and you three brats will stay right here."

"But-!"

"Naruto!" Jiraiya said sternly. "The Akatsuki wants you and you going straight to their lair would be stupid. Not to mention that Kakashi's attempts to save you would be worthless."

Naruto sighed with frustration.

"At least let us stay by the entrance of the lair," he pleaded. "Once you get Kakashi sensei out, you can leave sensei to us and you can go and join in the fight."

Jiraiya saw the logic in the plan.

"Alright." Jiraiya nodded. He watched as Naruto grinned excitedly and punched the air.

"Okay, now that everything is sorted out, when do we move? Kurenai asked seriously. Jiraiya looked up at the moon overhead.

"Now!" Jiraiya said and the rescue operation began.

--

Kakashi wished that the Akatsuki would just kill him. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were all safe in Konoha and there was no reason for him to carry on living. Kakashi was in intense pain all the time and even Deidara had given up trying to get out information from him. He was alone, in a dark cell.

Kakashi wondered about whether he was cursed. His mother had died when he was one, His father had died when he was five, his best friend died when he was ten and his lover had died when he was fourteen. Kakashi's life seemed to just be a long road of misery. And of course, his sensei died when he was fifteen. Kakashi groaned as he remembered the terrible day the Kyuubi had attacked.

--FLASHBACK--

_The nine tailed demon fox was the most horrifying thing Kakashi had ever seen. It was massive and Kakashi could see the evil and malice in it's eyes as it killed countless of people._

_Kakashi barely thought about the roaring monster. He was too busy searching for his sensei before it was too late. He had to stop his sensei before his sensei left him._

"_Kakashi!" a teenager in green spandex called out. Gai, Asuma, Kurenai, Anko and a few others Kakashi recognized were standing in front of a burning house. There was also a pink haired woman who trying to get into the house, but was being restrained._

"_My baby daughter is in there!" the woman screamed. Sure enough, Kakashi could hear the cries of a baby coming from the house._

"_We can't go inside!" Kurenai said desperately. "We won't be able to see a thing."_

_Suddenly there was another scream. Kakashi's eye widened as he saw the huge lightning bolt heading for the burning house. All the jounins gasped and backed away, while the pink haired mother kept trying to get back into the house._

"_Oh God." Gai whispered hoarsely._

_Kakashi sighed and uncovered his Sharingan eye. He quickly formed the Chidori in his hand and recklessly headed towards the lightning. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as Kakashi managed to slash through the lightning bolt._

"_He's showing off his raikiri." Anko scowled. She had never liked Kakashi, who always seemed to be surrounded with so many friends. Of course, Anko never counted the amount of loved ones Kakashi had actually lost._

_Kakashi went straight into the burning house and used his Sharingan to see through the smoke. He quickly located the crying baby and smiled. For the baby looked so cute with her pink hair and rosy cheeks. She could only have been about the same age as Naruto._

_Kakashi picked her up and to his surprise, she thrilled happily and stopped crying. He got out of the house and handed the baby to her mother. Kakashi resumed his mission to find his sensei quickly._

_Minato Namikaze was beside the old training grounds. He was cooing gently to the baby boy he was carrying. Minato smiled at the approaching Kakashi._

"_Hi Kashi!" he greeted his student._

"_Sensei!" Kakashi panted. "You can't perform the sealing jutsu! You can't!"_

"_I have to Kashi," Minato said. "I am the Hokage and it's my duty."_

"_But you can't die!" Kakashi yelled angrily. "You're not allowed to die!"_

_Minato ruffled his student's hair fondly._

"_Everyone's allowed to die Kashi." Minato laughed. "Look's like it's my turn now."_

"_Sensei-"_

"_Promise me that you'll protect Naruto, Kashi." Minato said seriously. "When he graduates, I would like you to be his sensei and he'll be your student. That way, he'll have the best of the best teaching him won't he?"_

_Kakashi could despairingly see that he wasn't going to change his sensei's mind. He looked at Naruto, whose eyes were wide with curiosity if the big orange cat nearby._

"_I promise sensei." Kakashi said quietly. "I promise."_

"_You and Naruto are godbrothers you know," Minato said softly. "It was Jiraiya sensei who named the both of you."_

_Kakashi could feel Obito's eye tearing up at the sight of Minato tickling his giggling son under the chin. Minato kissed Naruto's forehead and whispered "my son."_

_He then smiled, lifted up Kakashi's forehead protector and kissed him gently on the forehead as well_

"_My son." Minato murmured._

_Kakashi hugged his sensei tightly and he could feel his sensei hugging him back as well._

"_You've been like a father to me sensei," Kakashi choked out. "I love you so much."_

"_I love you too Kashi," Minato said sadly and for a while, the sensei, the student and the student's future student were locked in a loving embrace. The peaceful moment was shattered as the Kyuubi roared in anger again._

_Minato ruffled Kakashi's hair again and smiled at him one last time before leaving with Naruto in his arms._

_Kakashi sadly watched as his sensei boldly performed the sealing jutsu . He watched as his sensei hesitated before making the final hand sign. Kakashi was the first one to reach the Fourth Hokage's body._

--

The sound of fierce battle faded as Jiraiya followed the nin dogs into the dungeons. The dogs were all silent as they lead Jiraiya into a dark cell.

Jiraiya gasped as he saw Kakashi. The jounin was hanging off the wall with his hands shackled above him. There were various bruises on his body, burn marks and even bleeding marks where someone had carved out a pattern on Kakashi's arms and legs.

Kakashi was breathing shallowly and he had his eyes closed.

"What on Earth have they done to you?" Jiraiya muttered as he went to Kakashi and shook Kakashi's shoulders. The nin dogs were aleady beside Kakashi. Half of them were growling in anger at the Akatsuki and the other half was whimpering at their master's state.

When Jiraiya got no response from Kakashi, the Toad Sage easily slashed at the chains holding Kakashi and lowered the masked man to the ground. Jiraiya slapped Kakashi's face a few times before the Sharingan Warrior finally opened his eyes blearily.

"Jiraiya sama?" he asked groggily, not sure whether or not Jiraiya was really there. Kakashi became convinced however, that he wasn't seeing things as his dogs started to lick at his face relievedly

Jiraiya broke into a huge grin as he watched Kakashi weakly try to bat his dogs away fondly.

He had thought that he was too late to save his student's student and was currently feeling very, very relieved.

**Well, it looks like Kakashi is free from the Aktsuki now…or is he? Please, please review and tell me what you thought about it!**

**RnR!!**


	9. Chapter 9

"Can you stand

**So sorry that this chapter is**_** so **_**late but I had exams and was dead busy. This is the last chapter of this story and I have combined two chapters together to make this one. **

**By the way, in the manga, has Naruto stopped calling Kakashi "sensei"?**

**Enjoy!**

"Can you stand?" Jiraiya asked Kakashi gently. Jiraiya knew that he should actually carry Kakashi, but he didn't feel like supporting the weight of a fully grown man.

Kakashi was still lying down but he nodded bravely and pushed himself to his feet. He suddenly let out a pained yell of surprise and fell back down groaning. Jiraiya noticed too late that shards of glass had been pushed up the soles of Kakashi's feet. The watching nin dogs growled at Jiraiya.

"Guess I'll have to carry you now." Jiraiya muttered. He bent down and carried Kakashi in a bridal style. He noticed that the fabled Sharingan Warrior had slipped into unconsciousness. Jiraiya shuddered slightly. Not even wanting to know what kinds of tortures had been inflicted on Kakashi to make Kakashi black out.

By using his speed, Jiraiya managed to get out of the lair with Kakashi quickly. He avoided the battle which was taking place and slipped out of the entrance of the cave where Naruto and Sakura were barely able to restrain Sasuke from going after Itachi.

Jiraiya layed Kakashi into the ground grimly. He could see the confusion in Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke's faces. They couldn't recognise their own sensei with his mask off.Sasuke was the first to understand.

"No…sensei!" he gasped, shocked at Kakashi's state.

Naruto and Sakura gasped as well as they realised who the man Jiraiya had brought out was. The silver haired man looked terrible with so many bruises and cuts. But he was still obviously a very, very, very (I can go on forever) handsome man.

Tears flowed down Sakura's cheeks as she started to heal her sensei. Sasuke aided her by tying scraps of cloths over the bleeding wounds which Kakashi had. All thoughts about killing Itachi was forgotten (impossible really).

Naruto remained motionless. He stared at his sensei, his mind numb with shock and horror. He had always wanted to see what was under Kakashi's mask, but he had never dreamed of finding out like this.

Naruto was weighed down with guilt. It was his entire fault that Kakashi had been tortured.

Kakashi was one of the first adults who had accepted Naruto for who he was. In a strange way Naruto couldn't explain, Naruto felt as though his sensei had always understool what he was going through. He felt as though Kakashi sensei had suffered through prejudice and discrimination the very same way that he had.

Naruto was angry. Angry at himself and the Akatsuki. If he hadn't came out before the all clear signal was given, the Akatsuki would never had taken Kakashi away. But it was due to the Akatsuki that Kakashi was in this condition.

Still looking at the guy he saw as an older brother, Naruto bit his lip. He oculd hear the loud noises of the battle taking place in the lair. Naruto felt an overwhelming urge to join the ninjas fighting the Akatsuki. Rip the Akatsuki to shreds. Naruto wanted to make the Akatsuki pay for what they did to their sensei.

Naruto saw red, demon red.

--

Everyone, both Konoha ninjas and the Akatsuki turned at the horrified scream. The entrance wall of the lair had been ripped open and thrown away. There, at the huge gap of the wall, stood Naruto.

Only it wasn't Naruto. Gai, Kurenai, Asuma and any other jounins or ANBU who knew Naruto realised that immediately. Naruto's eyes were red and orange chakra flowed out from his body. Fangs curved out of his mouth and truth to be told, Naruto looked terrifying.

The Akatsuki moved. While some of them continued to detain the jounins and ANBU, the others went towards Naruto. They wanted the demon inside him.

Hidan and Kakuzu advanced but Naruto flicked them away easily by using one of the tails. Tobi and Pein received the same treatment but with an addition. Growling with anger, Naruto crushed the two of them into the wall.

Anyone else would have died but the Tobi and Pein Naruto had crushed were clones.

"Retreat," Tobi declared. "He's too powerful in this state."

And with that the Akatsuki vanished.

"Where did they go?" Gai asked, looking flabbergasted.

"Don't bother looking for them," Asuma said darkly. "They're probably long gone – those cowards."

Sasuke was looking outraged that he had missed his chance to kill Itachi. Sakura was looking concernedly at Naruto who was changing back to his normal self again. She smiled as the red eyes turned back to blue but her smile faded as Jiraiya called out to them from outside the cave.

"Get out of the lair now!" Jiraiya yelled.

All the ninjas saw what the Toad Sage meant as the ceiling of the cave began to crumble. Rocks and stones fell from the ceiling as the ninjas dashed out. To everyone's relief, no one was trapped.

Jiraiya had moved Kakashi to a large clearing nearby. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura rushed back to their sensei as the other jounins and ANBU crowded around.

"That is not Kakashi." Kurenai gasped in disbelieve. Asuma scowled as she blushed.

"My Eternal Rival has a face to rival mine!" Gai declared.

"Enough about how the brat looks without his mask on. Kurenai assess his condition with your medical jutsu." Jiraiya ordered.

Kurenai nodded seriously and moved forwards towards Kakashi's still form.

"He needs to get to the hospital immediately or he will…"Kurenai bit her lip. Kakashi's nin dogs stared dolefully at their master's face.

Without saying anything, Jiraiya scooped up Kakashi in his big arms and set off for Konoha quickly. Asuma barked out orders at the ANBU to follow Jiraiya and act as back up.

Naruto looked at his teammates.

"Kakashi sensei is going to be all right," Naruto said, trying to assure not just his teammates but himself as well.

Sasuke nodded and Sakura smiled at Naruto comfortingly. They followed in Jiraiya's trail.

--

_Kakashi looked down at himself. To his surprise, he was in his ten year old body. He blinked with both his grey eyes and viewed his surroundings. He was in Konoha, only it looked slightly different._

_The place was deserted which made Kakashi feel slightly anxious. He glanced at the Ichiraku Ramen stall beside him. The place both Minato sensei and Naruto worshipped._

_Kakashi scratched his head as he tried to figure out why he was ten years old again. And where was his jounin vest? Why did he not have his Sharingan? What the hell was going on?_

_Kakashi's eyes widened as he heard a familiar voice call his name._

_--_

"beep…beep…beep…beep"

Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Jiraiya, Gai, Asuma, Kurenai and Iruka watched as Tsunade sama frantically worked to heal Kakashi. Naruto was sick and tired of the silence which hung over them.

In the end, Tsunade sighed and moved away from the hospital bed. She bowed her head and closed her eyes to stop the tears threatening to fall.

"I'm sorry." Tsunade said. "Kakashi has only got a while left to live."

The shocked silence was so much more worse that she could ever have imagined.

"What do you mean Granny?" Naruto yelled angrily. "Heal Kakashi sensei now!"

"Tsunade! Surely you can-" Jiraiya began.

"I can't!" Tsunade exclaimed. "It's all about willpower Jiraiya! Kakashi is already almost dead! He doesn't want to come back!"

--

"_Sensei?" Kakashi gasped._

_A blnd haired man laughed and pulled Kakashi into a tight embrace. Over his sensei's shoulder, Kakashi could see Obito and Rin smiling at him._

"_What..how?" Kakashi could only murmur uncomprehendingly. Obito grinned at him._

"_You have no idea how long we have been waiting for you teme!" Obito said._

"_Baka!" Kakashi responded automatically. Rin shyly stepped in and hugged Kakashi warmly._

"_We've all really missed you Kakashi." Rin smiled. Kakashi smiled back at her, he had forgotten how pretty she was._

"_I've missed you all as well." Kakashi whispered. He squinted at the far distance going further into the village. His throat went dry as he spotted the faint outlines of his father and mother, and many others he knew who were already dead._

_Kakashi couldn't believe it. He was with his three most precious people. A warm feeling of happiness engulfed Kakashi as he realised that he was finally home._

_--_

"Of course Kakashi sensei wants to live!" Naruto screamed at the 5th Hokage.

"I'm sorry Naruto," Tsunade said painfully. "There's just too many people waiting for Kakashi."

Tsunade was feeling terrible. She was so fond of the witty, back talking, silver haired brat. Not to mention that Kakashi was the only living reminder she had of Sakumo.

"Kakashi sensei has us." Sakura sobbed. "He won't want to leave us! Please Tsunade sama, do something!"

Sasuke said nothing but he was screaming on the inside. He didn't want to loose his sensei- one of the few adults who actually cared for him.

The other jounins and Iruka were silent. They all felt sad and shocked that Kakashi was about to die. Gai looked especially dumbfounded that his Eternal Rival was dying.

"Kakashi sensei was – is always there for us!" Naruto choked on his words. "We can't just let Kakashi sensei go!"

Pushing past Tsunade, Naruto ran towards his sensei's almost dead body. He began to cry as he pounded Kakashi's chest with his fists.

"Wake up sensei!" Naruto screamed. "You can't just leave us! You can't leave me! Everyone else could only watch in quiet despair as Naruto continued to yell.

--

_Kakashi stopped laughing as he heard the faint screams. The happiness which had filled him before started to fade away._

"_**Come back Kakashi sensei!"**_

"_Naruto," Kakashi whispered. He turned to find his sensei and teammates smiling at him sadly._

"_You can't just leave your team like that Kashi." Minato said gently. Kakahsi clung to his sensei's arm desperately._

"_I don't want to leave you all!" Kakashi said, tears threatening to overflow._

"_Don't be stupid teme!" Obito grinned._

"_We'll always be with you." Rin smiled softly._

_Kakashi started to cry for the first time in his life. Having the contentment which had descended on him snatched away seemed too cruel._

_Minato hugged Kakashi comfortingly as Kakashi wept. He could still hear Naruto's faint screamings. _

_Kakashi sensed rather that feel Rin and Obito join in with the hug. They remained frozen in the embracing hug for a brief moment. The genius leader, the joker, the healer and the reluctant survivor. The team which had never known peacefulness._

"_We'll always be waiting here Kashi."_

_Those words were the last Kakashi heard as his world turned around again._

_--_

"I haven't become Hokage yet! You can't die on us now!" Naruto cried.

Iruka tried to pull Naruto away but Naruto resisted. The room was silent apart from Naruto's cries. Sakura noticed with a shock that Kakashi's dogs were fading away, already their outlines were hazy.

"beep…beep…beep..beep-beep-beep-beep"

Tsunade gasped in wonder as the heart rate monitor started to accelerate. It was impossible. Sasuke saw that the nin dogs were coming back to focus. Wild hope leapt in his heart.

"Impossible." Tsunade whispered. "Kakashi's coming back to us."

There was a murmur of shock and surprise as the crowd in the room watched Kakashi slowly, so slowly and blearily open his eyes. Jiraiya sighed in relief.

Naruto oblivious to everything, continued to yell and pound at his sensei.

"You promised to buy me ramen and you said you'll always be there for me. YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME!"

"Naruto," Kakashi murmured weakly.

"What?" Naruto said, not recognising where the voice was coming from.

"Be quiet. This is a hospital you know." Kakashi smiled.

"Shut up sensei!" Naruto said angrily. "Can't you see that I'm upset! My Kakashi sensei is going to die and- KAKASHI SENSEI!"

Everyone else smiled as the No.1 Knuckleheaded Ninja hugged the startled elite jounin. Sakura dragged Sasuke and forced him to get into a group hug.

"You had us all going brat." Tsunade smirked. Her heart clenched as the mischievous grin Kakashi gave her mirrored Sakumo's perfectly.

"How was your trip to the other world brat?" Jiraiya asked playfully. Kakashi merely smiled at him but it shocked Jiraiya to see the longing that were in Kakashi's eyes.

"Don't ever scare me like that Kakashi sensei!" Sakura said reproachfully. Naruto crossed his arms and looked at Sasuke who as usual was hiding his emotions.

"Will you stop acting like a zombie Sasuke!"

"Shut up baka." Sasuke growled.

"Teme!"

"Idiot."

"Idiot yourself!"

Kakashi smiled even wider. Even though his team was still arguing, and yes, Naruto and Sakura were strangling him with their continuous hugs and oh no, Gai, Asuma and Kurenai were coming over – looking ready to kill him for worrying them like that, Kakashi still felt happy.

For it was comforting to know that he had precious people waiting for him up in heaven and precious people who cared for him down on Earth.

And as Kakashi closed his eyes for a moment, he could still hear an echoing voice.

"_We'll always be with you Kashi…we're always with you."_

_**OWARI**_

**I feel like crying now. I can't believe how sad Kakashi's life is – to keep loosing someone you love. **

**And I feel really guilty now, because I'm hoping that Kakashi would die a honourable death in battle rather than die of old age. I can imagine him as the 6****th**** Hokage and sacrificing himself for the village like his sensei.**

**I hope everyone has enjoyed my story and I have enjoyed writing it. I am going to continue "Kakashi's choice.", though I do still need more ideas.**

**PS: On the manga, what on Earth does Sasuke think he's doing, that idiot!"**

**PLEASE REVIEW!!1**


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